Lost in Gangs and Drug Addiction, but God Intervened – Melissa’s Story

Lost in Gangs and Drug Addiction, but God Intervened – Melissa’s Story

While deep in gangs and drug addiction, Melissa was betrayed by friends and her life threatened—but God miraculously intervened and saved her. “God showed me that I was his daughter and that he still had a plan and a calling for me.” –Melissa

As we approach the Easter season, the miracle of Christ’s resurrection fills us with joy, knowing that Jesus has conquered death and reigns victorious! This truth shines bright with the hope we have in Christ.

Every day at Teen Challenge we meet men and women who haven’t yet heard that through Christ they can have new life.

Melissa was one of those lost souls. Deeply involved in a lifestyle of gangs and drug addiction, by age 15 she was hooked on intravenous drugs. At one point, she was betrayed by friends and jumped by her own gang, but God miraculously intervened and eventually she found her way to Teen Challenge of Southern California.

“Teen Challenge provided a safe place for me to heal and to receive the love of God,” she told us. “God showed me that I was his daughter and that he still had a plan and a calling for me.”

Melissa came to us broken, looking for hope that it is possible to live free of drug and alcohol addiction. She found that hope at Teen Challenge of Southern California–and then found her calling at Teen Challenge Ministry Institute. Melissa now lives in victory and has been drug-free for more than 12 years!

Today, Melissa works at an emergency maternity shelter in Orange County and together with her husband, Paul (also a TCMI graduate), is helping a pastor plant a new church in San Diego County. They also lead an addiction recovery support group and stay closely linked with Teen Challenge.

If you would like to help men and women like Melissa find hope in Christ and freedom from addiction, please consider supporting the work of Teen Challenge of Southern California.

Stories like Melissa’s are only possible because of our friends–like you–whose donations provide critical resources that allow us to give these men and women a safe place where they can recover and find hope and a vision for the future.

Thank you and may God bless you for helping someone else find freedom from addiction.